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Cavaliers force Game 5 with romp over Warriors

LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers attempts a shot while Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors defends in Game 4 of the NBA Finals at Quicken Loans Arena on June 9, 2017 in Cleveland. (Jason Miller/Getty Images)

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Not just LeBron and Kyrie this time but Kevin Love and Tristan Thompson and all the Cavs you are accustomed to seeing carrying the load for the Cavs.

They did it staring elimination in the face and needing a perfect game to overcome the Warriors and they just about delivered the perfect game in a 137-116 win that extended an NBA Finals most had destined for a sweep.

Within the Cavaliers locker room though there was no quit and they found a way to go toe-to-toe with one of he best scoring teams in NBA history and wound up bettering them.

And front and centre, as he always is when the Cavs are doing special things, was LeBron James, the best player in the world. He had his NBA record ninth triple double with 31 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds.

But the scoring sensation of the night was Kyrie Irving who had a game-high 40.

Through a half, the Cavs were shooting 61% from the field and just over 59% from three. They had the high-flying Warriors in an 18-point deficit and had won every statistical category. They won the rebound battle, they won the assist battle and they won the steal battle. They shot more free throws and turned the ball over five fewer times than the Warriors.

Individually, Irving flirted with perfection as well hitting 11 of his first 14 shots. Two of the misses were from three, although he hit four from distance as well. On the night he finished 15-for-27.

The lively Cleveland crowd ate this one up, finishing the night chanting, “Cavs in 7, Cavs in 7.”

Granted, a lot of Irving’s baskets were the kind that defence was irrelevant. Irving is a magician when it comes to finding the tiniest of spaces to get to the rim but the fact remains Golden State’s defence was nothing close to what it had been the first three games of the series.

Kerr acknowledged as much in his halftime speech to his team which was shown on the national broadcast. Kerr said the team had to get defence into the game, words that were not necessary as the Warriors built that 3-0 lead in the series.

Playing a huge part in the Cavs rebirth in this series was Cleveland’s redemption at the three-point line.

Through the first three games Cleveland was shooting just 29.8% from distance, a huge drop-off from their regular season numbers and a big drop-off from what they had been shooting in the first three rounds before the Finals.

Part of the credit goes to the Warriors obviously who were running the Cavs off the line with regularity through three games.

But there were open shots there too that just didn’t fall and in Game 4 suddenly they started falling.

It didn’t seem possible that the Cavaliers had the personnel to match the Warriors basket for basket but in the highest scoring game of the series, it was the Cavaliers who were setting the pace.

Only this time Irving and James had Love and to a lesser degree J.R. Smith along for the ride.

The Warriors got 35 from Kevin Durant but sub-par scoring games from the Splash Brothers in Curry and Klay Thompson who combined for just 28 between them.

What it means for the Finals is the series heads back to the Bay Area with the Warriors still well ahead with a 3-1 lead.

Any other two teams that might still feel like a safe lead but not these two.

It was only a year ago that Cleveland faced this exact deficit with the Series heading back to Oracle Arena.

The difference this time is Draymond Green will not be suspended for Game 5, a hard-fought Cavs win that changed the entire complexion of the series.

Green did pick up another technical in the Game 4 loss but he will be taking part in Game 5 unlike a year ago.

This game had a little bit of everything, except perhaps a defensive stand by the Warriors.

The game saw seven technicals called, skirmishes, an apparent punch to the groin by Zaza Pachulia to Iman Shumpert that somehow, in this day and age of overzealous replay use avoided punishment.

So many records were broken in this one it would take another page of newsprint to list them all.

But the bottom line was simple. The Cavs refused to let this one end on their home court. The perfect 16-0 playoff run is no longer a possibility.